NBA ALL STAR

March 7, 2021

Damian Lillard

Team LeBron

Press Conference

Team LeBron 170, Team Durant 150

Q. What was this experience like for you, the 32 points to get the game-winner and have Dame Time at the All-Star Game?

DAMIAN LILLARD: It was a solid experience. I think given the circumstances with COVID and the kind of season it's been, it was fitting. We came in last night, I didn't leave the hotel room all day or all night, all day, other than going to test, and they brought the food to us and everything. The game was pretty much it, and watching the Skills and Three-Point and Dunk Contests. But it was pretty quick.

I think the actual basketball side of it was pretty smooth. Obviously, it wasn't the typical All-Star Weekend, but it had to be done, and we got it done. We showed up and did what we needed to do. It was a good time. Last year I didn't get to play in the All-Star Game since they had the new format, and I was able to be out there for that last 24 for the fourth quarter, which is what I think everybody enjoyed the most last year in the game. I was just happy I could be a part of that, the ending of the game, and I could have an impact on the end of the game.

Q. Could you talk about pulling up from half court a couple times? You won the game pulling up, one step in, a couple of those tonight. That's something you've talked about doing before. Obviously, the All-Star Game gave you a chance to do it.

DAMIAN LILLARD: Yeah, it gave me a chance to do it. I haven't done it in an actual game. I wanted to test it out in some live action, and it felt decent. It felt fine, like a normal jumper. I was able to shoot it pretty easy. We talked about it in the huddle. Me, Steph and CP were like, we've got to catch a lob and we've got to pull one of these threes, me and Steph got some deep ones off.

Q. Any thoughts about taking that last three knowing that it was the game?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I hit two in a row, and I knew that we had game point at the three, and the ball came off, Steph handed and he pulled up, and once he missed his and he inbounded the ball to me on the next one, I was like, I'm about to fire this one. They backed up on me, and I just rose up.

Q. What was your impression of Anfernee's dunk performance?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I thought it was impressive. I think when you're a little bit nervous and you don't really know what to expect or you ain't never had that many eyes on you or that much attention, sometimes you'll miss dunks or you'll have nervous energy, and when I saw him before the Dunk Contest and during the Dunk Contest, he was calm. So I think that was what I was looking forward to the most was to see him on that stage and with all eyes on him just to see how he would respond to it and how his energy would be, and he was himself. He was calm. He was confident.

Obviously he was successful. He made his dunks. He executed them. I thought he played to the crowd more than you would expect, and he was able to win it.

I was happy for him. I was like a proud big brother on the sideline watching him.

Q. Did you know he was going to go for the kiss dunk?

DAMIAN LILLARD: Yeah, before he did the last dunk, he asked me, should he do the kiss dunk or should he cock it back behind his head and then come back and windmill it. I was like, I feel like that's a dunk that you could do if the first one don't come out, you could come back to that and still lock up the final. But I said, if you do the kiss dunk, I've never seen nobody do that, and when you land, you should blow a kiss at the rim. So I've got to take credit for that. That was my idea to blow a kiss at the rim, just so people knew what he was doing.

But I thought he did a great job. He told me what he was going to do before, and I was like, okay.

Q. How would you describe what it was like to be playing with Steph and sharing the backcourt and both you guys having your moments?

DAMIAN LILLARD: It was a lot of fun. I think I mentioned it before the game that you get the opportunity to be out there on the floor with guys that you've never played with, and it's different. I think with me and Steph being two guys that shoot a lot of threes, we shoot deep threes, we play an exciting game. A couple shots can change the game like in the second quarter of the game tonight, it was close, and then in two and a half minutes it was like three, three, three, three, three, and it was a 20-point win in a quarter.

It was fun. It was exciting just to run around out there with a guy like that, and that's what makes All-Star Weekend All-Star Weekend.

Q. You and Anfernee have such a special relationship, and I know that he looks up to you so much. Could you go into it a little deeper what it was like to watch him not only win the Slam Dunk Contest but to have a role in the dunks that he was choosing and what he does after he wins?

DAMIAN LILLARD: No, it was like I said, I was like a proud big brother. I think for me, I work hard and I push myself and I try to be outgoing and willing to do things outside of my comfort zone. Last year for All-Star, I performed before the Dunk Contest, and my second year in the league I did every event on All-Star Weekend. Since I've been in the league, I haven't played with anybody that participated in a lot of those things. Just to see him on that stage and to be able to do that and to be one of my younger teammates, I was just happy to see him out there and to see him on that stage and to be present while it was happening.

Q. Did I hear you right, you said that that half-court shot felt easy like a normal jumper, so we can expect to see that in a live game sometime soon?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I think I'm going to, but it has to be out of respect for our team. We work hard on the defensive end, so I don't want to just come down and waste a defensive possession with it. But if I get it going, I'm definitely going to do it.

Q. It seemed like you got excited towards the end of the game when you know you just need like a few shots, especially from long-range to end the game. I'm curious, is that something you've always had since you were a kid, the love for the pressure? Have you heard of NBA Top Shot, and do you look forward to seeing that game-winner going on Top Shot?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I have heard of it. I have been following it more lately because it's getting pretty popular. But I would like to see it on there. I think that would be pretty popular.

And I think the end of the game is the best time of the game. I think it's the time of the game where some people wear down, some people shy away and some people get excited.

When it's win or lose and the stakes are at their highest, I think it's a lot of fun in that just knowing that you could sink or swim or your team could win or lose. I always get up for those moments.

Q. LeBron, I believe, is undefeated in this role. He seems to have a knack for putting a winning team together. Do you think he's got a future as GM?

DAMIAN LILLARD: Yeah, I think he's got a future as a GM because he always gets it right.

Q. How different was this weekend as far as no appearances and can you just compare how this weekend was to past All-Stars?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, just not as chaotic, not as busy. I think I speak for every player here that just not having to take a million pictures and do a million appearances and go here, go there on this tight schedule, I guess it was a positive thing just not having to walk away from our season and jump into anything like that. But it just didn't have the All-Star Weekend feel, just because it was so quick, it was so quiet, it was empty. It just didn't have the same feel, but I think once we got on the floor, that was like the only time it snapped into like this is the All-Star Game.

Q. You were doing your wrist tap, there was video of Steph waving goodbye before the shot is even up, you shoot from the logo, and there's been a couple -- you got a question from pregame about is Portland a big enough market for you. What would you say to the idea that you're known for so many things and you play in Portland, so what did that somewhat prove that you don't necessarily need to be on a bigger stage to get that notoriety?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I think there's something to be said about if you want a bigger stage, obviously the New Yorks and Chicagos and LAs or whatever it is, just such a major platform and such a major market that you don't have to be doing anything sometimes to get attention for things to be magnified.

But I don't think you absolutely need a bigger market. Sometimes when you're doing things the right way, you can capture the attention of people, and you do things that bring people's attention to you, I think you can build up a market and make that market more than what it was.

I think for me since I've been in Portland, I've kind of brought it to an even bigger stage because the appearances at All-Star, all of the things I do off the floor, the national campaigns. There's been nobody that played in Portland who's done it the way that I've done it in that market, so I think by doing that, I've helped build the market up and lifted it up from where it was, which is how it should be any time you come to a spot. You should want to leave it better than it was when you got there, and I think as far as the market size and marketability and attention paid, I think Portland will be in a better situation as far as that when I leave because of how I was able to lift it up while I was here.

Q. You alluded to it, but the spotlight that you bring to the great Pacific Northwest and the City of Roses, just talk about playing your game, and again, it's Dame Time and it's Rip City.

DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, I have a lot of pride in representing Rip City and putting that Blazer uniform on. Everything that isn't handed to us or given to us or that we aren't known for, I want to bring it there. Even when we talk about a championship, even when we talk about TV games and Christmas games and signature athletes and commercials and all those type of things, I want to bring that there.

I think it's definitely possible to seek it out. If you're in certain places it's more appealing to some people, but if you can be in a place like the Pacific Northwest and still find a way to build that in a space like that, then you're doing it beyond yourself. You're almost like paving the way and creating an opportunity for the next person to come through because you've built it up, and that's something that I take pride in.

Q. As we move into the second half of the season, you finished the first half taking care of Oakland, Golden State Warriors, a team you grew up watching. Talk about getting back and working hard and winning games going forward in the second half.

DAMIAN LILLARD: Yeah, we did our jobs in the first half of the season. We had a lot of injuries. It was tough, but we came together. We got the job done. We ended the first 35 games with a better record through 35 games than we have in five years, so that's a positive thing, but it's a whole other half of the season. Our work is just beginning, so now head home, rest up, get my treatment, make sure that I'm training my body still, getting my work in, so when the second half of the season starts, I don't miss a beat and I'm able to keep rolling and continue to push with the team.

Q. I'm sure you grew up dreaming of these moments and you had so many now since you've been in the NBA. Do they feel anything like you dreamed them, and really what do they feel like?

DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, it feels kind of crazy. I couldn't have even dreamed some of the things that have happened in my career. But I think one thing I have done is just commit to the things that make me me, the hard work, being genuine and being authentic and caring about other people, and when you know you do those things whether it's in public or behind the scenes, I think you come into these situations with a lot of confidence, and that's just what it is.

I'm noticing the results from the way that I operate and the way that I do things, and the longer I'm able to sustain it and be more and more committed to it, I just keep getting better and better results from it, and I think that's what people are starting to see.